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The Small Back Room (1949)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
23 February 1952 (USA) morePlot:
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on 1943 England, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. moreNewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Santa The Cineaste (From New York Post. 13 December 2008, 10:51 PM, PST)
The Small Back Room
(From The AV Club. 26 August 2008, 9:02 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
This is from a time when writers still roamed the earth moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| David Farrar | ... | Sammy Rice | |
| Kathleen Byron | ... | Susan | |
| Jack Hawkins | ... | R.B. Waring | |
| Leslie Banks | ... | Col. A.K. Holland | |
| Michael Gough | ... | Capt. Dick Stuart | |
| Cyril Cusack | ... | Cpl. Taylor | |
| Milton Rosmer | ... | Prof. Mair | |
| Walter Fitzgerald | ... | Brine | |
| Emrys Jones | ... | Joe | |
| Michael Goodliffe | ... | Till | |
| Renée Asherson | ... | A.T.S. corporal | |
| Anthony Bushell | ... | Col. Strang | |
| Henry Caine | ... | Sgt. Maj. Rose | |
| Elwyn Brook-Jones | ... | Gladwin | |
| James Dale | ... | Brigadier |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
106 minCountry:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Boom mic visible: A little over 75 minutes into the film, during the scene where the character of Sammy Rice trashes his sitting room, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen reflected in the empty picture frame in the foreground of the shot. moreQuotes:
Susan: Where were you going Sammy?Sammy Rice: I don't know.
Susan: A woman?
Sammy Rice: Maybe.
Susan: How about me?
more
Soundtrack:
Night Club Music moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Small Back Room (1949)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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A fine terse drama like this one is inconceivable today for many reasons, most of them having to do with market forces which dictate that only films about superheroes in long underwear and adolescent revenge fantasies are to get financing and international distribution. But the main reason why it can't be duplicated today is the quality of the writing by Emeric Pressburger, an innovative genius who wasn't afraid to leave his mark on material adapted from another medium and to use his imagination to keep things vivid at all times. The film shines in its production values, photography, art direction, casting but most of all in its details and its capacity to involve the viewer in a subject that would seem almost repellent today, a complicated and imperfect man's devotion to his work in time of war. If a film's success is to be measured by its capacity to take the viewer out of the ordinary, this film is certainly a hit. Its success is helped by the talent of the principals, a wise woman every warrior would like to return to (Kathleen Byron) and the most gorgeous hunk of uncompromising masculinity ever to grace a British screen and titillate the female viewers, David Farrar.